Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Like the wind. Kind of.

Tuesdays are now my “run, run, run” days. I turned on the treadmill, cranked up i-train on my MP3 player, and started running. It was a quick pace for me, and in fact I set a new 10k record! I crossed that point – 6.2 miles – at 57:45. Whoo hoo!

I kept running after that to finish the entire hour, ultimately running 6.4 miles in 60 minutes.

I felt great, actually. The halfway point was a bit tough mentally, but I worked through it and didn’t quit. It really is as much mental as it is physical. And I don’t know if that will ever change. It’s just so easy to start negotiating with myself during the run.

“I will run for 60 minutes.”“Maybe run for 40 minutes, then bike for 20 minutes.”“30 minutes is a long time to run. I should split the time between running and biking.”

One thing that helps is to work in one-minute increments. I tell myself to crank up the speed and sprint for one minute. Towards the end, I challenge myself to go another 30 seconds. Then I recover at a slower speed.

The other challenge? I try to get out ahead of my miles early. By that, I mean I need to run just a bit faster than 10 minute miles if I want to run a 10k in an hour. If I run fast at the beginning, I feel like I have a little breathing room for later in the run if I get tired.

Okay, that all sounds like a lot of math and calculations while running. It is, I suppose. But everything that makes me focus on NOT running is a good thing. Instead of thinking "it's so far" or "it's so fast," I am working out distances and time requirements. That works for me.

So I am not really running like the wind. But I am proud of myself. I felt strong and fast today, and that is a great feeling.